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The first time I had reason to question the date of a thirteen-star flag was in 1947. The one examined was stitched by machine and, because of that, obviously was not an eighteenth-century flag. The stars were arranged in a 3-2-3-2-3 arrangement. Knowing very little about documenting flags at that time, I questioned the then curator of history, Theodore T. Belote, whether a flag could be dated by the star arrangement. In discussing the more popular arrangements, Mr. Belote stated that the "thirteen-star flag was used as a small boat ensign from 1795 to about 1916." Currently, in trying to document his statement for publication, I found that this was one of those facts that is "known," but difficult to establish positively. In 1970, Captain Edmund A. Crenshaw, Jr., vice president of the Germantown Historical Society and curator of its museum in Philadelphia, wrote in answer to my query: "That type 'thirteen-star flag' was used for smaller vessels, torpedo boats, submarines and ships boats as far back as I can remember." In his letter of December 3, 1970, when Captain Cranshaw was seventy-nine years old, he continued, "... it was stopped by Franklin Roosevelt for some reason." Since Franklin Roosevelt was assistant secretary of the navy in 1916, the year may be fairly accurate; however, the observation of Dr. Harold Langley, present curator of naval history in the Smithsonian Institution & National Museum of History and Technology, is that individual captains may have continued to use the thirteen-star flag. Dr. Langley also pointed out that manufacturers who had filled navy contracts may have continued to manufacture these flags after 1916. The United States Navy, however, considers that officially it has followed each Flag Act using the number of stars representing the number of states in the Union, and cites a regulation issued in 1890 reaffirming this. Nevertheless, there is an Executive Order (number 1637) issued by President William Howard Taft and dated October 29, 1912, which states: Boat Flags: In order that the identity of the stars in flags when carried by small boats belonging to the Government may be preserved, the custom holding in the Navy for many years, of thirteen (13) stars for boat flags, is hereby approved. This confirms that the thirteen-star flag was in use through 1912 and probably longer.

For the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the flags of all federal subjects of Russia—Republics, Oblasts, Krais, and more—are documented in one volume in English. Based on a paper which won the Captain William Driver Award for scholarly achievement in vexillology, this book belongs on every flag-lover’s bookshelf. Its 89 articles cover current and merged federal subjects. Each article provides the description of the territory’s flag, including its proportions, year of adoption, designer(s), history, and meaning. A locator map places the territory in Russia, with grayscale illustrations of the flag and arms in each article. (81 of 83 current subjects have flags—8 more merged subjects are covered.) 32 pages of full-color plates illustrate the flags and arms described in the articles in beautiful detail. All of the federal subjects are identified in English, Russian, and transliterated Russian. An extensive analysis of the flags explores their design, colors, symbolism, and meaning. This work was originally presented at NAVA's 42nd annual meeting in 2008; the author won the Captain William Driver Award for the best paper. For this volume of Raven, she was awarded the coveted Vexillon by the Fédération internationale des associations veillologiques in 2011 for the most important contribution to world vexillology in the previous two years.

The “Liberty Flag” dates from before the Revolutionary War. Owned by the Schenectady County Historical Society in Schenectady, New York, the flag was conserved and mounted by Spicer Art Conservation, LLC. It is unique among known Revolutionary War-era flags, as extensive documentation for it exists, including when and where it was first flown along with information about the people associated with its use. Further, this flag was not connected with a military unit or anti-Crown protests; rather, it represented a civic statement. In 1771, Schenectady politicians were focused upon how to allocate and manage common lands rather than on the constitutional issues that were at the forefront for other communities in New York and New England. This focus on common lands arose from local disputes between the more recently-arrived English and earlier settlers of Dutch ancestry. This is also a story of the enduring hold of the Dutch culture through decades of English rule—in particular, how the Dutch concept and understanding of “liberty” was distinct from ideas of individual liberty then prevalent in the “English” colonies. In 1771, thus, the local “liberty” protest by English settlers was more about the use of common lands rather than taxation. Furthermore, consideration of the dyestuffs available for the silk fabric, and its current condition, indicate that the flag, now brown, was originally green (not blue, as widely believed).

This paper considers the impact of flag redesign efforts in Iraq following the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003. During this period of political and social upheaval, occupying Western powers attempted many modifications to Iraqi governance under the aegis of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Primarily aimed at removing the vestiges of Saddam Hussein’s government, the project of de-Ba’thification attempted to change Iraq into a modern democracy replete with a national flag that symbolized this transformation. A forward-looking design created by the eminent architect Rifat Chadirji was soundly rejected, and Iraq instead approved a modest redesign of the Iraqi flag synonymous with Saddam Hussein and the Ba’th Party.

In the early 20th century, the Society of the War of 1812 in Maryland gave to the state of Maryland a 13-star, 13-stripe national flag reputed to have been carried in 1781 at the Battle of Cowpens, in the American War for Independence. Other stories circulated about this same flag having later been carried in 1814 at the defense of Baltimore, Maryland, during the War of 1812. Both claims have been called into question by textile experts and historians, who dated the flag only to the mid-19th century. This article provides a meticulous study of previously unexplored documentary evidence, a close tracing of the flag’s provenance, and a reexamination of the flag’s materials and design, in order to reconsider previous conclusions about this “Cowpens Flag”. Presenting a methodological, historiographical, and material culture review of the artifact and of previous studies of the flag, it concludes that the flag in fact dates to the War of 1812. The stories of the flag being at the defense of Baltimore are true: specifically, Ensign Joshua Bachelor of the 27th Regiment of the Maryland Militia carried the flag at the Battle of North Point, Maryland. The “Cowpens Flag” misnomer should thus be replaced with “the Batchelor-North Point Flag”.

Flag designers often need to decide how to convey the idea of facing or moving “forward”. An effective solution depends on the representational traditions and the psychology of flag perception. These are surprisingly complex matters, however, as people may bring multiple ways of projecting the idea of “forward” onto a flag, ways which can reinforce or contradict one another. This paper lays out five different ways people may impose a sense of horizontal directionality to a flag.

For the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the flags of all federal subjects of Russia—Republics, Oblasts, Krais, and more—are documented in one volume in English. Based on a paper which won the Captain William Driver Award for scholarly achievement in vexillology, this book belongs on every flag-lover’s bookshelf. Its 89 articles cover current and merged federal subjects. Each article provides the description of the territory’s flag, including its proportions, year of adoption, designer(s), history, and meaning. A locator map places the territory in Russia, with grayscale illustrations of the flag and arms in each article. (81 of 83 current subjects have flags—8 more merged subjects are covered.) 32 pages of full-color plates illustrate the flags and arms described in the articles in beautiful detail. All of the federal subjects are identified in English, Russian, and transliterated Russian. An extensive analysis of the flags explores their design, colors, symbolism, and meaning. This work was originally presented at NAVA's 42nd annual meeting in 2008; the author won the Captain William Driver Award for the best paper. For this volume of Raven, she was awarded the coveted Vexillon by the Fédération internationale des associations veillologiques in 2011 for the most important contribution to world vexillology in the previous two years.

For the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the flags of all federal subjects of Russia—Republics, Oblasts, Krais, and more—are documented in one volume in English. Based on a paper which won the Captain William Driver Award for scholarly achievement in vexillology, this book belongs on every flag-lover’s bookshelf. Its 89 articles cover current and merged federal subjects. Each article provides the description of the territory’s flag, including its proportions, year of adoption, designer(s), history, and meaning. A locator map places the territory in Russia, with grayscale illustrations of the flag and arms in each article. (81 of 83 current subjects have flags—8 more merged subjects are covered.) 32 pages of full-color plates illustrate the flags and arms described in the articles in beautiful detail. All of the federal subjects are identified in English, Russian, and transliterated Russian. An extensive analysis of the flags explores their design, colors, symbolism, and meaning. This work was originally presented at NAVA's 42nd annual meeting in 2008; the author won the Captain William Driver Award for the best paper. For this volume of Raven, she was awarded the coveted Vexillon by the Fédération internationale des associations veillologiques in 2011 for the most important contribution to world vexillology in the previous two years.